Food Design in the 21th Century
Koert van MensvoortOld nature provided us with a wide variety of food: fresh milk, crispy vegetables, nutritious meat. Yet this is not enough, we want more: We want a printed steak , square …
Search results for food design
What food design can do
Eloïse Peredruk, Kelly van GemertFood design gives us a taste of innovation. It visualizes, speculates, challenges and problem-solves.
How to design your future family
Ruben BaartImagine a place called Reprodutopia. How would such a place look like?
How Food Scientists Engineer the "Bliss Point" in Junk Food
Allison GuyCheetos and other junk foods are more carefully engineered than the average bridge.
This podcast aims to help design better food systems
NextNature.netThe podcast Food by Design was created by Sarah Codraro and Sandeep Pahuja, and is hosted by Sandeep. According to the makers "Our food system is not 'broken'. It’s working …
The things we design end up designing us
Dr Natural"While battling the forces of nature, man has become more and more independent of physical conditions. At the same time, however, he has become more and more dependent of …
Chloé Rutzerveld designs the food of tomorrow
NextNature.netYou are in for a surprise when you look at food and concept designer Chloé Rutzerveld 's portfolio. It is hard to believe that somebody so young - she is just 25 - has already …
The Story of our Food
Maartje SomersEvery time we eat a piece of food, we take a bite out of the world. All these small bites tell a dozen stories. A carton of eggs presents the story of contented hens, a bottle of …
Experience bio design at Dutch Design Week 2019
Bio design crosses the border between the ‘made’ and the ‘born’. Enabling living organisms as essential design elements, it brings us products that adapt, grow, sense and repair …
Interview: Chloé Rutzerveld, Designer Who Wants to Grow Healthy 3D Printed Food
Alessia AndreottiFood and Concept designer, Chloé Rutzerveld, explains her 3D food printing project Edible Growth.
A Designers take on Intelligent Design
Koert van Mensvoort://nextnature.net A typographical film on the term ' Intelligent Design ' and its relation with design. Created by Christian Bramsiepe from the Köln International School of Design …
Discussing non-human centered design with Kelvin Godee and Simon Wijrdeman
Eloïse PeredrukWhat if design began to put everything but the human first? The needs of the human not paramount to the design process, but instead the other entities that we cohabit planet earth …
Geodesign
Nellie FriedrichWe have identified eight key defining moments that tell the story of geodesign, from ancient insight to artificial intelligence.
How to design your (home)office
Govert FlintDesigner Govert Flint proposes a new office concept, entirely based on movement and play.
3D-printing food waste into tasty products
Meike SchipperGlobally, humans produce enough food to feed 10 billion people (we are only 7 billion now) yet somehow we waste a third of this. Food waste is one of the biggest climate …
How to design a digital democracy
Rinie van Est10 design requirements to fully immerse ourselves into the 21st Century—in which technology makes our world richer, not poorer.
Why some plastic packaging is necessary to prevent food waste
Manoj Dora and Eleni IacovidouThere has been a surge in awareness of the damage that plastic pollution does to our planet in recent years. It has spurred a number of campaigns to remove single-use plastics …
Allergen Beagle – A Home Foodscanner
Koert van MensvoortNo shellfish, no peanuts, no soy, no milk, no eggs. An increasing number of people suffer from various food allergies, which force them to constantly scan food packages for …
How to design your Self
NextNature.netWho are you, who do you want to be, and what do you need to do to get there? We are constantly pushed to lead the perfect life. The media present us with a picture of an existence …
Design Your Own Vegetables
Ruben BaartWith her project Future Food Formula, food designer Chloé Rutzerveld is looking for innovative methods to design vegetables.
Future Food, the exhibition
NextNature.netImagine, it’s 2050 and you are feeling hungry. What will be on your plate? Where will your food come from, and how will it be produced? It may be juicy ants from the nearest …
A vegan meat revolution is coming to global fast food chains
Malte RodlA few years ago, convincing meat-free “meat” was nothing more than a distant dream for most consumers. Meat substitutes in supermarkets lacked variety and quality. Plant-based …
Join us at the Embassy of Food Conference
NextNature.netPromising food design projects do not always find their way to producers, the market and ultimately to consumers. Why is that and what can we do to advance these ideas? Why is it …
Next Nature Night: Future food is on the menu
NextNature.netAlways thinking about food? What about food that doesn’t exist yet? On the 18th of September at De Studio, Next Nature Network will host a night of talks on the future of food and …
Bio textiles: Meet three designers reimagining materials using biotechnology
Alexandra KisielewskiThe world needs interdisciplinary creators who are designing not just for humans, but for the rest of the living planet. To foster this thinking, Biodesign Challenge (BDC) pairs …
Food To Eat With Your Eyes
Francesca BarchiesiIn Japan, fake food industry represents a century of old crafting tradition and a multi billion business.
Time Between Emergence and Design
carolinenevejanPreviously, experiences of time emerged from nature as given – offering seasons, the rhythm of humans, plants and animals. Nowadays, people integrate nature-time, body-time, inner-time, clock-time, and global 24/7 systems-time. Human beings, in past, current and next natures, have to deal with emergence and design of time in order to survive.
Future Food: Here's what we'll be eating in 2050
NextNature.netWhat will you be having for breakfast, lunch or dinner in 2050? Where will this food be sourced? And how will it be prepared? Edible insects? A hamburger made from cultured meat? …
Your Next Nature guide to Dutch Design Week 2018
Meike SchipperOver time, our bodies, our food and our environment have become more and more subject to design. As designers, we hold the responsibility and have the unique chance to envision …
Join the Next Nature Talkshow on biodesign!
NextNature.netA living lamp that you need to feed, a tapestry made of animal waste streams and tableware made from algae. Welcome to the wonderful world of biodesign.
Next Generation: Taste Landless Food with Malu Luecking
NextNature.netRegeneration of extinct flavor families via microalgae
A Film to Double the Shelf-Life of Food
Margherita OlivoThe eco-friendly food packaging material able to improve food safety, conservation and quality.
Food for Thought
Arnoud van den HeuvelFood is no food. Food is scent. Food is temporary experience. Food is message. Welcome to this magical gastronomy tour. You will enjoy the tasty (video)links below: Works by Chef …
NATURE: Where biology and design merge
NextNature.netCube Design Museum in Kerkrade and Cooper Hewitt in New York present the comprehensive exhibition NATURE - in which internationally renowned designers, artists and inventors …
Bio, Art & Design (BAD) Award Winners
NextNature.netThe three winners of the Bio, Art & Design (BAD) awards have been announced.
Fast Food = Lower Test Scores
Alessia AndreottiThe amount of fast food children eat may be linked to how well they do in school, a study suggests.
Next Generation: Biophilic design with Daniel Elkayam
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation, a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Interview: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Designer and Synthetic Biology Expert
Alessia AndreottiAn interview with Daisy Ginsberg, artist and synthetic biologist.
AI creates images of delicious food that doesn’t exist
Tristan GreeneA team of researchers from Tel-Aviv University developed a neural network capable of reading a recipe and generating an image of what the finished, cooked product would look like. …
From Fast Food Packaging to Flowerpot
Alessia AndreottiDesigner Michal Marko created a biodegradable food bowl. Can you imagine this bowl being used in fast-food restaurants?
Nano Product: The Food Printer
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkAre we creating the penicillin or the asbestos of the 21st century? In the months preceding our Nano Supermarket Project , we share some speculative nanotech products with you. …
Why Meat Grown in Labs is the Next Logical Step for Food Production
Avy RoyLab grown meat is part of the trajectory that agricultural technology is already following.
Designing for Next Nature (workshop report)
Koert van MensvoortThe extent to which new technologies are intervening with everyday life can hardly be underestimated. Virtual realities, nano- and biotechnology are increasingly providing new …
Apes Like Cooked Food, and What that Means for Human Evolution
Allison GuyHumans are the only species on earth that cooks its food. Not only do we cook our food, but we usually find the flavor of cooked foods preferable to the raw version. Compare the …
Dutch Design Award Nomination
NextNature.netThe In Vitro Meat Cookbook is nominated for the 2014 Dutch Design Award!
There's a new urgency for speculative design. Here's why
Freya HutchingsPink chickens, synthesized tiger penises and salads grown from bodily fluids - how could they shape our future? In a Next Nature collaboration with the Gogbot Festival, the …
BP logo redesign
Koert van MensvoortOver the past few months there has been a lot of commotion about the BP oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico. It is considered as the largest offshore spill in U.S. …
Next Nature Night on Design & Evolution
NextNature.netNext Nature Night on Design & Evolution, Tuesday 30th June.
Turning Poop Back Into Food
Alessia AndreottiNasa funded a program to turn astronauts’ poop into food.
The Surplus Food Supermarket
Ruben BaartThis supermarket sells expired food to raise awareness over poverty, hunger and the environment.
Sneak Preview Food
Koert van MensvoortLets face it: we spoiled western people are pretty much imprisoned by our self created safe environments and remotely disconnected from the wonders and chaotic surprises of old …
Designing for Next Nature: selected proposals
Some months ago we sent out a call for proposals asking for visions, statements & ideas on we how we can design, build and live in next nature. We received an overwhelming …
Designing for NextNature @ TU Eindhoven
Koert van MensvoortStarting February 2009 the Industrial Design department of the Eindhoven University of Technology takes Next Nature as one of its educational themes. The Industrial Design …
Who designed the banana?
Koert van MensvoortLooking at a banana from a design perspective, one immediately notices the fruit is highly ergonomic and sophisticated: Bananas fit perfectly in the human hand, they come with a …
How We Domesticated Food
Margherita OlivoWe tend to believe that the fruit and the vegetables we eat today are "natural" and the same as they always were. It turns out that in the past this familiar food didn't look like this at all.
Submit your project to the Bio Art & Design Awards 2022
NextNature.netHello upcoming bio artists and designers! We invite designers and artists interested in bio art & design to propose projects for collaborative work across disciplines. The Bio …
Future Food House in Rotterdam
Koert van MensvoortBehold the first pictures of our Bistro In Vitro ice bar in the Future Food House.
Living Among Pests – Designing the Biosynthetic City
Joyce HwangJoyce Hwang discusses the challenges for designers, and gains for citizens, of living in a truly biosynthetic city.
Our Cookbook Wins Dutch Design Award
NextNature.netThe In Vitro Meat Cookbook won the Design Research Award.
Designing Cars with Synthetic Biology
Louise HuyghebaertDesigner and artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg explains how synthetic biology inspires her for designing the cars of the future.
AI Foodcial Recognition
Julie ReindlPic2Recipe is an artificial intelligence system able to recognize ingredients, identify a dish and suggest recipes from a single image.
Designing for Next Nature Workshop
Koert van MensvoortDesigning for Next Nature Workshop. This weekend at the Media Design Program @ Art Center College of Design . See also: Call for Proposals .
Interactive Nanotech Food
Koert van MensvoortNanotechnology isn't just protecting your food - it's in your food. Scientists are manufacturing nano-sized vitamins that are easier for our bodies to absorb. In the future they …
Design Indaba Interview
NextNature.netOur South African friends of Design Indaba made a nifty little video of the presentation we did at What Design Can Do this spring.
Design on the Border of Technology and Biology Demands Us to 'Mother' Nature
Koert van MensvoortDesigner and architect Neri Oxman explores how digital fabrication technologies can interact with the biological world. Watch the TED talk.
Designer Creates Water Bottles from Algae
Daniel FragaIcelandic Product Design student Ari Jónsson has used red algae powder and water to create a biodegradable water bottle.
RedesignMe
Koert van MensvoortWe are all born in a world that has been designed already. Cars, dishwashers, dildo's, remote controls, ATM machines. Although these products are supposed to make life better, …
NAT Designing Nature - Exhibition & Debate
NAT, designing nature is about the interface where nature and culture, biology and design intertwine. An exhibition that is a cross between an exotic Garden of Eden and an illegal …
Napkin Sketch – On the impact of Design
Koert van MensvoortCreated by Bruce Mau , who is not so much interested in the world of design, as in the design of the world. See also Napkin Sketch – Nature changes along with us .
Food Simulator to Fulfill the Desire to Eat
Alessia AndreottiTwo master's students have created a speculative device to simulate the sensations of eating.
Smart Tags Change Color as Food Spoils
Alessia AndreottiSmart Tags stick to containers of food and change color when something has expired.
Designed to Survive Our Roads
Ruben BaartA road safety campaign in the Australian state of Victoria exposed an educational, yet confronting picture to raise awareness to the vulnerable human body on the road.
How to turn your 3D printer into a food printer
Saumil VadodariaWhile the pandemic has restricted us from doing many activities we like, household hobbies such as DIY , baking and crafts have become more popular. Now there’s a way to combine …
We could power households from the scraps in our food waste bins
Ananya MukherjeeImagine if you could power your kettle using the energy generated from the vegetable cuttings quietly breaking down in your kitchen’s compost bin. That reality might not be so far …
Call for Proposals: Designing for Next Nature
Nowadays, children know more corporate logo's and brands than bird or tree species. The average Western person has more worries about the instability of financial markets and …
Food Fight
Arnoud van den HeuvelIf food and consumption are part of a nations identity, then could warfare be culturally determined as well? The short film that plays with this theme is called Food Fight by …
Join the Designers & Artists 4 Genomics Award
Koert van MensvoortSo, you are well aware that biotech will drive our evolution , you took the crash course on synthetic genomics , you've got your map of the DNA world in your backpack and are now …
Food Familiarization #1: Semantic Tricks
Allison GuyWhen does a rose not smell as sweet? When it's a Patagonian toothfish.
Food Familiarization #2: Celebrity Endorsement
Allison GuyHow "celebrity endorsements" transformed the potato from the devil's tuber into a global staple.
Le Bistro In Vitro @ Dutch Design Week
Koert van MensvoortThis whole week you can come and taste meat ice at Le Bistro In Vitro in the main hall of Eindhoven University of Technology.
Moments in Meat History Part VIII- Fast Food
Jonathon MarkowskiThe very first restaurant to typify the modern fast food genre was White Castle, who opened their first location in 1916 in Witchita, USA. Ironically, at the time fast food was …
Join the Bio Art & Design Awards
Koert van MensvoortSo, you are well aware that biotech will drive our evolution , you took the crash course on synthetic genomics , you’ve got your map of the DNA world in your backpack and are now …
Bio Art & Design Awards 2015
Koert van MensvoortIf we are going to mutate the made & the born, let us at least do this creatively.
HUBOT: Meet the Organ Designer
NextNature.netAs an organ designer, you develop genetic algorithms from which organs are grown to perfectly fit the recipient’s body, but also to meet the personal wishes of the patient.
Fake for Real: Design for the Masses
Koert van MensvoortThe delicate armchair depicted at left is a Finnish design created in 1931-1932 by architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), who in Scandinavia is sometimes called the …
Design for dummies
Arnoud van den HeuvelCreativity for all! Design used to be predestined to a select group of qualified brand–owning designers. That model is made redundant. At least, if it is up to Studio Ludens in …
Army Protected Organic Foods
Simone KochOver the last few decades, the public has been – and still is – creating awareness on the values of organically produced foods. For many foodies an important value of organic …
Next Nature Lecture @ DesignMarch Island
Koert van MensvoortIf you happen to be in the neighborhood you may want to attend the Next Nature lecture at the Island Design March on March 22 in the "most northerly capital in the world". If you …
Cockroach Milk: the Next Superfood?
Monika KozubA recent research reveals that the next extra nutritious ingredient may be the liquid produced by cockrach mothers to feed their offsprings. Are you willing to try it?
Empowered by Robots Design Challenge
NextNature.netWanted: New jobs for humans and robots! Which designers, technicians, robot enthusiasts will help us with innovative, feasible ideas for the new jobs of the future?
This Robot will Grow Food in Your Backyard
Koert van MensvoortFarmBot Genesis is humanity's first open-source CNC farming machine designed for at-home automated food production.
Climate Change Turns Leaves into Junk Food
Julie ReindlClimate change turns rainforest leaves into junk food.
Lunch talk @ Art Center College of Design
Lunch talk at the Art Center College of Design on March 5th. See also: Call for Proposals .
11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design: Introduction
NextNature.netWelcome to the 11 part series The Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Product Design. In this series, we will be examining how designers can better integrate human-like forms or …
City Rats Love Ethnic Food
Allison GuyCity rats, it seems, prefer the same foods that humans do: Greasy, fatty, sweet, and salty. Although rats are usually seen as the billy goats of city life, ready to chow down on …
Playing with Your Food (Industry)
Laura TiemeijerBack in the old days, we played with a Playmobil ® farm. With a farmhouse, two pigs and a chicken, and it was a fair reflection of how the food industry worked. Nowadays small …
Innovative Nostalgia
Koert van MensvoortWe humans simply feel more comfortable with technological change when it comes in a familiar form that refers to an existing and accepted object, habit, value, tradition or intuition.
Living Food
Koert van MensvoortMinsu Kim created a wonderful series of living dishes that wiggle and wave on your plate.
NANO Supermarket nominated for Dutch Design Award
NextNature.netOur traveling NANO Supermarket is nominated for a Dutch Design Award. Winners will be announced late October.
Transfigurations: Let's Design People
Daniel FragaPlastic artist Agi Haines explores hypothetical scenarios for surgically implanted body enhancements in babies.
Future of Food: Eating From the Ditch
Mathilde NakkenFor years scientist and farmers are researching the possibilities of eating duckweed, shoveling it out of the ditches onto our plates. This proteinrich plants can be used in animal fodders or be eaten by humans.
Insect Ramen: the New Food Trend
Julie ReindlTokyo restaurant offers sustainable new dish - ramen noodles topped with crunchy insects and people love it
Designer pets
Rolf CoppensIf your house just isn't big enough to have a leopard, you can allways buy these 20.000 dollar cats. Nailcaps are included to prevent scratches on the matching cat furniture. I …
Design = No sign
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe Wilson Quarterly profiles the in January 2008 departed traffic engineer, Hans Monderman , of the "less is more" school of traffic control: " (...) Previously, Monderman, like …
Design Your Sims
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIKEA is going to sell furniture with Electronic Arts via The Sims 2 game. Soon, it will be possible for you game addicts, to refurbish your Sims living room into your own …
Inside the Fastfood "Photokitchen"
KrisWhy does your food look different in advertising than it does in the store? A Canadian McDonald's marketing manager tries to answer this common question with a behind-the-scenes …
33% of All Seafood in the United States Is Fraudulently Labeled
Allison GuyA new study from the marine conservation group Oceana reveals that a full one-third of seafood across the US is mislabeled. Not surprisingly, the most expensive fish is also the …
Designer babies: the kids of the future?
Megan Ray NicholsWhat if you had the choice of sparing your child from diseases and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease or autism?
Designing Bugs That Eat Plastic
Koert van MensvoortIt is a well known secret that plastic hardly breaks down and almost all of the plastic ever made still floats around somewhere . With the great pacific garbage patch now twice …
Debugged: 'Graphic Design Bugs'
Michael KluverThe Eindhoven-based design team ' Edhv ' made an installation to turn creepy crawlers into genuine graphic designers. By letting crickets, woodlice, ants and many other insects …
Design Fiction – Medical Bill of the Future
Koert van MensvoortAccording to this fictitious future medical bill almost every part of the human body will be repairable in 2028. Gut bacteria replacement, Bone tissue growth for skull repair, …
Runaway Robots Hunted by the Mammals They Were Designed to Replace
Zack GottliebLast week, the U.S. Navy announced that four of their “ REMUS 100 ” unmanned underwater vehicles sailed off-radar and stopped responding to commands. The ‘bots were part of a …
Cockroach Farms Do Big Business for Food and Pharmaceuticals
Allison GuyBig bugs make big bucks for Chinese farmers turning to roach ranching.
The Designer who Grows Furniture
Hessel HoogerhuisGavin Munro is creating a farm where planted trees can be grown around braces and harvested as fully formed chairs, sculptures, lamps, and tables.
Banana by Design
Koert van MensvoortIf you compare the supermarket banana with the original wild banana the differences in size, look and taste are striking.
Towards a design brief for the artificial womb
NextNature.netHumanity is facing the disconnection between biological reproduction and the body, facilitated by the emerging technology of the Artificial Womb. Envisioned in bleak science …
Lecture @ Design Academy
Koert van MensvoortIf you happen to be in the neighborhood this Wednesday...
Green Colors Make Food Seem Healthier
Allison GuyWhich candy bar you choose depends on the color of the packaging.
Homemade Robot Designed from Recycled Scraps
Alessia AndreottiA Chinese inventor created a $24,500 robot from junkyard scraps.
We Are Not Alone Eating Fast Food
Lucie ViolleauBeekeepers in France have been puzzled by their bees producing blue and green honey. Turned out the bees were eating waste from an M&Ms factory.
Robot Fridge Forces You to Smile for Food
Allison GuyFeeling grumpy and hungry? Unfortunately, the University of Tokyo's Happiness Counter refrigerator won't open up until you give it a big smile. The concept is based on the fact …
Design Looking Backwards
Stephen PerryShould digital technology imitate that which exists, or could it also surpass it?
Elephants are geodesigners, too
Jeppe Aagaard KristensenImagine you’re in a hot air balloon flying over an African savanna in the late growing season. Below, herds of elephants, zebras, wildebeests and rhinos roam a mosaic landscape …
Track freshness and reduce food waste with Rui Xu
NextNature.netImagine this: you wake up on a lazy Sunday morning, trudging your way to the fridge only to be welcomed with the smell of something rotting. Did the meat expire sooner than …
Next Generation: Designing ecological webs with Miriam Lellek
NextNature.netThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Lessons in bio design with Emma van der Leest
Meike SchipperAs a young bio designer at the start of your career, you'll have to overtake all kinds of obstacles. From the collection of living materials to working in a laboratory and …
Curator Gène Bertrand on design for human needs
Meike SchipperNature has always been a source of inspiration for many artists and designers, yet the urgency to connect to nature is more pressing than ever. Environmental issues such as …
Interview: Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret, Designers Exploring Alternative Ways of Thinking & Doing
Ingmar NieuweboerInterview with Mike Thompson and Susana Cámara Leret.
Seven Future Visions on In-Vitro Meat
Koert van MensvoortBefore we can decide if we will ever be willing to eat in-vitro, we need to explore the food culture it will bring us.
How an app is helping restaurants cut food waste
Meike SchipperGlobally, humans produce enough food to feed 10 billion people (we are only 7 billion now) yet somehow we waste a third of this. Food waste is one of the biggest climate …
Interview: Pauline Van Dongen, Designer Merging Fashion and Technology
Margherita OlivoDutch fashion designer specialized in wearable technology, Pauline van Dongen researches the human body in relation to its surroundings.
How biotechnology could shape the future of product design
Ruben BaartHumans have been manipulating living things for thousands of years. Examples of early biotechnologies include domesticating plants and animals and then selectively breeding them …
Designer Dave Hakkens is putting plastic waste to better use
Ruben BaartWe recently handed this year’s ECO Coin Award to Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, founder of the Precious Plastic movement. With his open sourced recycling machines, he provides people around the world the knowledge to start recycling plastic locally.
In conversation with Teresa van Dongen, biodesigner exploring natural forms of artificial light
Kelly van GemertThere was a time when flipping the switch, and seeing a glass bulb light up, was magical to anyone in the world. Today, the presence of a light switch in a room, is something …
Entryparadise
Written by Werner Lippert & Peter Wippermann, Curators of the Entryparadise exhibition (26/8 until 3/12, 2006, at Kohlenwäsche, Zollverein) Design is about to undergo a …
Next Generation: Why Annie Larkins' egg project is essential for future food thinking
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Five (un)mundane things to do at Dutch Design Week 2019
Freya HutchingsLining up plans for Dutch Design Week ? Once more, 2600 designers gather in over 120 locations during 450 events. So whether you're a local, new in town, or just passing through, …
Interview: Lining Yao, Interaction Designer and Maker of Novel Materials
Alessia AndreottiWe recently interviewed Lining Yao, Chinese interaction designer who uses organic materials as a technology that brings us back to nature.
Interview: Designer Shahar Livne is geomimicing the future of plastics
Kelly van GemertWe sat down with Shahar Livne, an Israeli-born designer who graduated from the Design Academy in Eindhoven to talk about her vision on the future of plastics.
Bio textiles: Meet six designers changing the future of fashion
Meike SchipperWe live in a world of fast or disposable fashion. This industry is increasingly impacting the environment due to the use of toxic chemicals, water and energy consumption, heavy …
Interview: Agi Haines, Speculative Artist Who Wants to Redesign the Human Body
Ruben BaartSpeculative designer Agi Haines' work focuses on (re)designing the human body, and speculates upon future scenarios.
Interview: Leanne Wijnsma, Designer for the Instinct Who Uses Smell as Medium
Ruben BaartDutch experience designer Leanne Wijnsma designs for the human instinct and puts the sense of smell back to where it belongs, as modern hazards have shifted to the digital realm.
This book explains why cooking food was essential to human evolution
NextNature.netA must-read to the Next Nature fan: Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human (2009). Written by British primatologist Richard Wrangham, the author shares his hypothesis that …
Designer Govert Flint applies motion to everyday life
Ingmar NieuweboerInterview with Govert Flint, designer, architect and self-taught artist.
Designer Anouk Wipprecht combines fashion with robotics
Alessia AndreottiWe met Anouk Wipprecht and talked about smart fabrics and accessories that can listen to our body, therapeutic fashion and the future of dressmaking.
What an artificial womb may look like in the future
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkIn the future, artificial wombs could replace incubators as they mimic the natural environment of the female uterus. But what will these devices look like?
THRIVE: an expo in designing nature and growing technology
NextNature.netTHRIVE expo showcases the latest works at the convergence of art, design, and biology, which examine current and future uses of biotechnology.
Sitting on Tofu
Alessia AndreottiItalian Designer discovers new material. A ideal throne for a vegan king.
Modernist Food
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis modernist food makes the future of 3D printed food look pretty tasty!
Human Nature, designing the equilibrium with Koert van Mensvoort
NextNature.netUnder the title Human Nature, designing the equilibrium, eleven designers will answer questions about a future in which Humankind and Nature enter into a new relationship. An …
Next Generation: Redesigning Burberry with Jiyong Lee
NextNature.netThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Architects, You Better Design Cars!
Alejandro AlvarezHyundai envisions a future where your smart home is your driverless car, and vice versa.
How a starfish inspires robotic design
MaithriIn a feat of biomimicry that seamlessly marries biology with physics, tests carried out at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering made fascinating …
Discussing bio-based material experiences with Elvin Karana
Meike SchipperThe world of design is in need of new materials that align with the urgency for sustainability. Issues such as climate change, plastic waste and harmful materials require us to …
Tulip Island - Design a Polder
Arnoud van den HeuvelA proposal to gain 600.000 m 2 of land near the Dutch coast recently came from the CDA (Dutch Christian-Democratic political party). The idea is to create a tulip-shaped island …
A new mythology of technology
Ruben BaartIn conversation with architect Julia Watson, a leading expert on Indigenous technologies and author of 'Lo-TEK, Design by Radical Indigenism'.
Interview Matilde Boelhouwer: Making urban environments flower again
Eloïse PeredrukMatilde Boelhouwer is a designer whose work speculates between art, design, science, biology and food. Matilde shapes this obligation into a studio which mainly focuses on the …
Screen mutations and reframing perspectives with Louisa Zahareas
NextNature.netIn the digital era of a globalized world, our screens have become a second set of eyes. Communication has advanced leaps and bounds, to a point where we cannot imagine a world …
Nurturing Architecture
Ruben BaartThe way we currently build is not sustainable. We will have to develop a sustainable living environment that matches our human needs, intuitions and potential.
Get with the (cultured meat) times by evolving in vitro with Yuval Yancovitch
NextNature.netWith 7.9 billion people and counting, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations predicts that by 2050, food supply needs to grow by 70% in order to accommodate …
But will lab-grown meat be kosher?
Benjamin Aldes WurgaftRead Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft's essay on judaism in relation to the production of laboratory-grown meat.
Suzanne Lee wants to live in a sustainable material world. Built with biology, not oil
Ruben BaartBiotechnology is nearly as old as humanity itself. The food you eat and the pets you love? You can thank our ancestors for kickstarting the agricultural revolution, using …
What will your future supermarket look like?
NextNature.netWhat will the supermarket of the future look like? And what kind of food will you be able to buy there? That is what the Embassy of Food is researching. The production and …
Vertical Farms Growing In Giant Trees
Francesca BarchiesiUrban Skyfarm is a giant tree-shaped farm system for environmental improvement in food production and distribution.
Beyond Biomimicry: A New Urgency
William MyersDesigners face an unprecedented urgency to alter their methods and reprioritize their goals to address the accelerating degradation of the environment. This new …
An introduction to Biomimicry
Janine BenyusThe first time I explained biomimicry to a stranger was not in a talk or a workshop but in a big-box bookstore just after Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature had come out. I …
The World Without Technology
Kevin KellyI remember the smoke the most. That pungent smell permeating the camps of tribal people. Everything they touch is infused with the lingering perfume of smoke – their food, …
Fresh from the Pharm
Gordon TiemstraWill we in the future still buy several needs according food in shops, or will we grow M&M’s ourselves? There is a lot happening on in the field of food technology , think for …
Floating Underwater Self-Sufficient City
Francesca BarchiesiAsian architects of AT Design Office want to build an incredible floating underwater metropolis that is also self-sufficient.
The Material Futures of Central Saint Martins
Zeynep KunduracilarMeet United Matters, a London collective exploring how we might live in the future by blurring the boundaries between craft, science and technology.
In conversation with Jalila Essaïdi
Freya HutchingsWhat do in-vitro human skin, spider silk and cow manure have in common? They are all unlikely materials that can cloth, protect and inspire humans, as realized by award-winning …
Next Generation: The virtual infinity of Scarlett Yang
Eloïse PeredrukThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Nine creatives in biotech you need to know right now
NextNature.netThe field of biofabrication is still new to most people. As founder and CEO of Biofabricate, Suzanne Lee shared with us this exciting online event series Creatives in Biotech . If …
Making an AI supermarket with Nonhuman Nonsense
Eloïse PeredrukWhat does the supermarket of the future look like? The Embassy of Food at Dutch Design week.
Next Generation: Building Aquatecture with Shaakira Jassat
Eloïse PeredrukThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
The path towards solar democracy with Marjan van Aubel
Meike SchipperSolar cells are often considered an eyesore, used for their sustainability yet not for their beauty. Installed on roofs or in solar parks, they take up precious space. Well that’s …
The Carnery - A Cultured Future with In Vitro Meat
NextNature.netIn vitro meat has the capacity to transform meat production as we know it, introducing an entirely new way of thinking about and interacting with food.
Interview: Liam Young on Speculative Architecture and Engineering the Future
NextNature.netInterview with Liam Young on his work in speculative architecture, the future, and our role in nature as humans.
Organic Coca-Cola
Koert van MensvoortWhoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be. You can’t beat the real thing. It really refreshes and brings real satisfaction in every glass. It was not until America’s …
Why insects are not the new sushi
Jonas HousePeople across the world have been eating insects for thousands of years. We know that approximately 2,000 species are edible and that these insects are eaten in many different …
Should lab-grown meat be labelled as meat when it's available for sale?
Hope JohnsonAustralian regulators will soon be faced with a challenge: can animal flesh produced in a lab be called meat? Amid reports that lab-grown meat could be on sale this year, the US …
On the origin of the e-bike
Huub EhlhardtThe oldest known serious candidate forerunner for the bicycle is the ‘running machine’ built by the German Baron Karl von Drais. His two-wheeled machine became known as the …
Maurizio Montalti talks nature’s cycle of life
Meike SchipperAs modern humans, we are out of balance with our natural environment. With use of technology, we try to prolong our human lifespan and create materials that live longer than we …
Get your Microbiome-To Go with Merle Bergers
Eloïse PeredrukIn the supermarket of the future, part of the Embassy of Food at Dutch Design Week, designer Merle Bergers will present her project Microbiome-to go.
FluDOC – Glowing Bacteria Show if You Have Influenza
Koert van MensvoortBacteria are traditionally perceived as infectious and unhealthy, but that is about to change. This week designer Jan van der Asdonk graduated from the Next Nature Lab at the TU/e …
NANO Supermarket Jury Report 2012
NextNature.netAfter the successful introduction of the NANO Supermarket in 2010 it became even more clear that the contest and the presented results produced discussions and many challenges to …
Next Generation: Unleashing nature’s untapped potential with Amelie Unger
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
10 Next Nature dinner table conversation starters
Ruben BaartSummer is here and the sun is out, and yes, this is awesome. After a long day in the sizzling summer sun, you get a group of people together to share some delicious food, …
Digital Gastronomy
Koert van MensvoortThe food printer seems to be one of those lustrous concepts that continues to pop-up in the fantasy of techno-connoisseurs. Some years ago James King already proposed a printed …
There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkSo you’re triggered by our call for products and now you’re considering to send in one, two or maybe three of your brilliant products for the Nano Supermarket? Good. Or – and this …
Anthropomorphobia
Koert van MensvoortAre you familiar with the affliction? Anthropomorphobia is the fear of recognizing human characteristics in non-human objects. The term is a hybrid of two Greek-derived words: …
A Stroll Through the Bubbles of Chemicals and Men
Etienne TurpinA stunning pre-history of the anthropocene
Plants + Science = Meat!
Daniel FragaWhat if you could have the taste of a juicy, sizzling burger without the destructive impact of using animals for meat? That is what Impossible Foods wants to do with its new burger.
Next Nature Interview
For the Venezuelan Magazine Platanoverde , Gabriela Valdivieso y Lope Gutiarrez-Ruiz interviewed artist/scientist Koert van Mensvoort and discussed some of the idea's behind Next …
Nano Supermarket – Jury Report
Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology of our time – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its …
Adding a new dimension to marine restoration: 3D printing coral reefs
David KlingesThe local fishermen looked on skeptically. From the deck of a small motorboat, scuba divers grabbed odd chunks of ceramic – which could be described as rocky brains stuck on …
Growing the Future of Meat
Christina AgapakisOutside of the limits imposed by the edges of an animal’s body, the cells can reproduce and multiply until they exhaust the nutrients and space provided, filling petri dishes and vats to grow the future of meat.
From Vegetable to Stroopwafel
Ruben BaartChloé Rutzerveld presents a modern version of the iconic stroopwafel, fully made of vegetables.
How rich people used to show off their wealth with pineapples and celery
Lauren Alex O HaganA stack of pancakes ladened with syrup, a frothy latte posed next to a white MacBook, a deep pan pizza oozing with cheese. Instagram has made “food porn” – images that portray …
Nature Loves Technology
NextNature.netWe interviewed William Myers and Emma van der Leest, curators of Nature Loves Technology, our exhibition at Floriade 2022
Razorius Gilletus – On the Origin of a Next Species
Koert van MensvoortIs the evolution of the single bladed razor into an exorbitant five–bladed vibrating gizmo the outcome of human needs, or is there another force in play? Say hello to Razorius …
Nature through the Windshield
Brendan CormierVolume magazine interviews Next Nature founder Koert van Mensvoort.
The Idea for Lab-Grown Meat Was Born in a Prisoner-of-War Camp
Chase PurdyThe phone call was as unexpected as the American accent at the other end of the line. And when she hung up a few moments later, Ira van Eelen had to stop to catch her breath. More …
Next Generation: Get to know Valerie Daude
Ruben BaartThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your coordinates as we …
Grossed Out by Lab-Grown Meat? Here's 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Be
Allison GuyIn vitro meat is creepy, unnatural and downright disgusting – and so is every other kind of food we eat.
Interview: Rachel Armstrong, Innovative Scientist Who Wants to Grow Architecture
Alessia AndreottiRachel Armstrong discusses living buildings, Venice's foundations, millennial nature and how to improve our future.
How blockchain technology is changing the agriculture industry
Megan Ray NicholsBlockchain is useful for more than cryptocurrency. It’s revolutionizing industry after industry. Next, it may change the way we get our food. The agriculture industry is complex. …
Artificial ceramic bones for a natural meat experience
Ruben BaartThe world is developing, climate change is happening and it's time for us to do something. Now. One strategy would be to simply stop eating meat — or at least reduce the amount of …
Next Generation: Mathilde Rougier's modular fashion echoes within the digital sphere
Eloïse PeredrukThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: Changing the oceans chemistry with Santa Ramaherison
NextNature.netThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Structuring biomimicry, improving building's resiliency
Wilfredo Mendez VazquezThe same way Einstein assumes the speed of light to be a constant of reference for his Theory of Relativity, the philosophy of biomimicry assumes Nature as a constant of reference …
In Vitro Meat: Animal Liberation?
NextNature.netMany people welcome in vitro meat because of what it may mean for animals. Even though they often find the idea strange, the promise for animals is widely felt as a source of hope.
ECO Coin Award Interviews: Ritsert Mans
Jack CaulfieldWe asked Ritsert Mans, our second ECO coin award nominee about his bike, the technology that fuels it and his hopes for the future.
Turning surplus bread into craft beer
Meike SchipperGlobally, humans produce enough food to feed 10 billion people (we are only 7 billion now) yet somehow we waste a third of this. Food waste is one of the biggest climate …
Five must-see exhibitions before 2020
NextNature.netA large-scale asian food market serving in vitro meat, a transatlantic expo on the future of nature and a travelling exhibition that explores our relationship with AI. These five …
Interview: Pirjo Kääriäinen on collaboration and the new ecological biomateriality
Freya HutchingsMeet Pirjo Kääriäinen, professor of design driven fibre innovation at Aalto University, Finland. Kääriäinen founded CHEMARTS —a collaborative program at the university that brings …
Next Generation: Pei-Ying Lin is cooking with viruses
Britta de VriesThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Want to see your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: Towards the Plastic Human with Max Ahluwalia
NextNature.netThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: Shaping intimacy through objects with Pleun van Dijk
Eloïse PeredrukPleun van Dijk is a speculative artist/designer who investigates the intimate relationship between human and technology.
Furniture Futures
Eloïse Peredruk, Nellie FriedrichWondering how next natural furniture may change your way of life? Will we feed our lamps? Grow chairs? Talk with our tables?
Orthorexia Nervosa: the "healthy" eating disorder
Koert van MensvoortFollowing anorexia nervosa (under eating) and bulimia nervosa (overeating and compensating), orthorexia nervosa (obsessively healthy eating) is the latest eating disorder in the …
Interview: Arne Hendriks, Researcher and "Father" of The Incredible Shrinking Man
Alessia AndreottiHendriks’s activity explores the positive transformative power of creative impulses and the importance of fundamental free scientific research.
The Prefuture of Synthetic Biology
Alexandra Daisy GinsbergAlexandra Daisy Ginsberg discusses the promises and realities of synthetic biology.
Interview: Suzanne Lee, Fashion Innovator Who Grows Clothing in the Laboratory
Alessia AndreottiWe recently talked with Suzanne Lee about the textile industry and technology, growing leather in the lab, and the use of new alternative materials in the future of fashion.
Lab-Grown Shrimps Are Coming to Your Plate
Alessia AndreottiA startup called New Wave Foods is developing artificial shrimp meat in the laboratory.
Virtual Reality Dining Experience
Alessia AndreottiUsing immersive virtual reality and aromatics to make the brain believe we are enjoying a delicious dish.
If you could have another sense, which sense would you choose?
Meike SchipperColor-blind artist Neil Harbisson designed a brain-implanted antenna that converts colors into sound. This enables him to hear colors he cannot see, and extends his vision to …
GOGBOT Conference 2019: Your guide to a future with biotech
Look around you and try to find the most natural thing in the room you are in now. It is you. But for how long? Welcome to the wonderful world of bio design ; a world full of …
The Next Nature Magazine is here!
NextNature.netIt’s our pleasure to announce the first issue of the Next Nature Magazine. Indeed, a good old fashioned magazine. Next Nature Magazine presents 176 pages of thought-provoking …
‘Jurassic World’ scientists still haven’t learned
NextNature.netJust because you can doesn’t mean you should – real-world genetic engineers can learn from the cautionary tale. “ Jurassic World: Dominion ” is hyperbolic Hollywood entertainment …
Crowdsourced drink
Koert van MensvoortRemember the days when the flavor of a fruity drink was simply connected to an apple, orange, strawberry, kiwi, or perhaps – if you felt really exotic – an acai berry? Nowadays we …
Supermarket – Our Next Savanna
Koert van MensvoortWe are living in the future and we find it boring. The best place to gather evidence for this claim is the supermarket. To begin with, try and have a fresh look at the word: …
Fuel Your Body With Algae Headgear
Alessia AndreottiAlgae as the future alternative fuel for the human body.
Professions Of The Future
Francesca BarchiesiAs technology evolves, what today seems like science fiction may be the job market of tomorrow: 11 professions of the future.
Speculative Sensing at WDCD 2015
NextNature.netOn may 21st, Next Nature Network art director Hendrik-Jan Grievink will host a workshop around the idea of Speculative Sensing: exploring the potential of senses found in nature …
Iconic Buildings in Untouched Lands
Margherita OlivoAnton Repponen's project places iconic NY buildings in organic, untouched environments to put them in the spotlight.
Cutlery Set to Eat Bugs
Ruben BaartDesigner Wataru Kobayashi created a picnic cutlery set to promote eating insects.
Air Pollution Mask for Kids
Ruben BaartDanish design studio Kilo created an air pollution mask suitable for kids aged six and up.
The City as Technology in Tokyo
NextNature.netAre cities in their current form really the future of the human habitat? What is a next nature version of the city and how would it look like? In line with this perspective, NNN designer Hendrik-Jan Grievink led two workshops in Tokyo.
How the Dutch government is obstructing the advent of in vitro meat
Ruben BaartIn 2017, two years after her father died , Ira van Eelen decided to call the Dutch Arable Farming Union. She couldn't help but wonder how come the Netherlands was still not …
Aleph Farms just grew meat in space for the first time
Freya HutchingsHello meat lovers! In vitro meat innovator Aleph Farms has taken the saying 'one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind' to a whole new level. The startup has succeeded …
Next Generation: In pursuit of digital tactility with Studio PMS
Eloïse PeredrukThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: Exploring cybernetic ecologies with Marie Walker-Smith
Liam BekaertThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
The GeneSprout Initiative: cultivating new plant breeding techniques
NextNature.netSome 10,000 years ago humans began to domesticate plants and animals. The birth of agriculture, one of the earliest technologies available.
Do It Yourself Pet
sijmeImage: A. Sidorov Have you ever fantasized about creatures which carry the biggest smile? Or creatures which are so deeply covered with fur that you wish they were real? Good …
Natural-Born Junkies
Orestis TsinalisHippopotamus: a 2,5cm-long tablet-shaped nonliving chewable animal, member of a multi-species flock known as the Animal Parade, which tastes like fruit and is found in little pill …
Pyramid of Technology: How technology becomes nature in seven steps
Koert van MensvoortHow technology becomes nature in seven steps
Elzelinde van Doleweerd wins the ECO Coin Award 2018
The ECO Coin Award honours outstanding ecological heroes. In 2015, we handed out our first ECO Coin award to Yoyo Yogasamana for his digitalization of sustainable knowledge to …
Open Call for ECO Coin Award 2018 Submissions
NextNature.netNominate an inspiring project, platform, person or community who is tackling food waste for the ECO Coin Award 2018
Next Generation: Elissa Brunato's bio iridescent sequin shimmers with nature
Freya HutchingsThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Would you like to see your work here? Get in touch …
Ouroboros Steak: Producing meat using human cells
Nellie FriedrichYou are what you eat; a quite common message in the midst of our self-growth society. We have to eat well to become the best version of ourselves - more productive, healthier …
The information age is starting to transform fishing worldwide
NextNature.net, Ioana TomiciPeople in the world’s developed nations live in a post-industrial era, working mainly in service or knowledge industries. Manufacturers increasingly rely on sensors, robots, …
Exploring Next Nature (2004)
Koert van MensvoortThe first essay ever written on Next Nature, published in Next Nature Pocket and in Entry Paradise, New Design Worlds . ( download pdf ) (German version: Erkundungen im Nächste …
The Sound of the Blue Canary
Berry EggenBlue is a beautiful color, but its sound is simply irresistible. It is the song of the unhappy and the depressed. It is a sound that touches people. It was also the sound of a …
Meat, the Expectations
Koert van MensvoortAs the planet’s population speeds towards 9 billion, it’s becomes impossible to continue consuming meat like we do today. Will we all be eating rice and beans? Grasshoppers …
Little Green Cows
Rachel ArmstrongThe world is alight with algae fever. In this age of deep ecological design aspirations, the range of speculative design projects based on algae technology is growing. Algae are …
Watch Out Whales, Humans Want Your Krill
Allison GuyKrill, those tiny members of the ocean's planktonic community, have an importance disproportionate to their size. They are a vital food for whales, penguins and increasingly, …
3D Pizza Printer for Astronauts
Alessia AndreottiPrintable pizza. The next big food innovation after sliced bread.
From Eco-Apartheid to Earth Democracy
Vandana ShivaDo humans exist merely to make money and use resources? Vandana Shiva believes humans have a higher purpose.
Next Nature and the Curse of Oil
Tere VadénThe next step is to embrace and celebrate how cultural artifacts are escaping control, becoming autonomous, and forming the “next nature”.
Could Biomimicry Help us Solve the Refugee Crisis?
Daniel FragaFrom nutrients within an organism, to organisms within collectives, to populations within a territory and so on - nature offers models on how to deal with highly complex systems.
ReGen, the Autarchic Off-Grid Village
Margherita OlivoUtopian off-grid ReGen Village produces all of its own food and energy is being implemented in Almere.
Cognitive Cooking with Chef Watson
Elle Zhan WeiThe AI chef nows more than 10,000 recipes from all over the world and is capable of combining any ingredient while following your personal food preferences.
Discover the art of the living at Centre Pompidou
NextNature.netGo forward to nature at the La Fabrique du Vivant (the Factory of Life), the newly opened exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Exhibiting the recent works of fifty …
Taco futures: In vitro meat in Mexico City
Alejandro AlvarezOur In Vitro Meat Cookbook has inspired many people around the world. Just recently, we had the BBC over at our headquarters to see what makes us thick. This idea of in vitro meat …
This startup is growing sushi-grade salmon from cells in a lab
Vanessa Bates RamirezAs the ills of factory farming become more pronounced, people are increasingly gravitating towards vegetarian or pescatarian diets. Besides producing a large percentage of our …
How fungi can help create a green construction industry
Ian FletcherThe world of fungi has attracted a lot of interest and seems to be becoming very fashionable of late. A new exhibition at Somerset House in London, for example, is dedicated to …
Meet Kaia: a living lamp that filters CO2
Kelly van GemertDid you know that we owe every second breath we take to the algae in the sea? And that minerals have been absorbing CO2 for billions of years while converting it into important …
Faustian Bargains and Pineapple Shampoo
Since the early days of the net, the electronic pastoral has lent itself to all sorts of dubious agendas pushed by science, the military and even libertarian tendencies. In the …
A Savannah Inside the Dumpster
Allison GuyFor most of us, obtaining food is easy. We go to the grocery store, where fruits are labeled and meats arranged by species. We go to a restaurant, sit, and wait for our food to …
Plastic Planet
Koert van MensvoortWe tend to think of plastic as a cheap, inferior and ugly material used to make children’s toys, garden furniture and throwaway bottles. But as an experiment, imagine for a moment …
The Search for the "Real" Thanksgiving
Allison GuyThanksgiving is fake-for-real. While it's true that there was a minor harvest feast in 1621, held by English immigrants and Wampanoag Indians, the event was never celebrated …
'Alp' Turns Containers into Refrigerators
NextNature.netTransporting and displaying cold food is an incredibly wasteful and inefficient process. Current display refrigerators, like those that display meats or cheeses in supermarkets, …
Nano Supermarket 2nd Edition: Call for Products
NextNature.netWe call upon designers, technologists and artists to submit their speculative nanotech products for the next round of the NANO supermarket.
Artifice Earth: Adam Rutherford on the Promises of Synthetic Biology
NextNature.netAn interview about the history and promises of synthetic biology, and the problem with the word "nature".
"Soylent" Liquid Meals Will Save the World
Alice FumeyCan a meal replacer save us money, time, and maybe even save the world?
NANO Supermarket Best Product 2014
Alessia AndreottiA jury of design and science experts awarded the best NANO Supermarket product a € 2.500 prize.
Transportations Of The Future
Francesca BarchiesiA selection of nine enthralling and striking concepts of future way of transportation.
The Biosphere Code Manifesto
NextNature.netDuring the event The Biosphere Code, Stockholm University researcher Victor Galaz and colleagues outlined a manifesto for algorithms in the environment.
The Enlightenment Is Dead, Long Live the Entanglement
Danny HillisWe humans are changing. We have become so intertwined with what we have created that we are no longer separate from it. We have outgrown the distinction between the natural and the artificial. We are what we make.
Fellow Day: Next Senses
Ingmar NieuweboerOn June 17th a NNN Fellow Day was organized to explore the future project: Next Senses.
Towards a Post-Animal Bioeconomy
Ruben BaartAs emerging biotechnologies are blurring the lines between synthetic food and natural food, who will regulate cellular agriculture?
Ectogenesis, Artificial Womb, Human Egg?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe artificial womb is on the verge of becoming a reality, but how it will affect our culture is for us to decide.
Flying Car Modular Transport System
Elle Zhan WeiAirbus and Italdesign unveil modular urban land and air transport system.
An afternoon with Josh Tetrick: The man who wants to bring in vitro meat to the market by 2018
Ruben BaartMeet Josh Tetrick, entrepreneur who wants to reinvent the food industry and plans to launch lab-grown meat on the market by the end of 2018.
In Conversation with Yoyo Yogasmana, Winner of the First ECO Coin Award
Ruben BaartRead our conversation with the ECO Coin Award Winner of 2015: Yoyo Yogasmana.
Transformative Appetite: Shape-Shifting Pasta
NextNature.netMIT Media Lab developed pasta programmed on a computer.
Ermi van Oers wants to bring living light to your living room
Jack CaulfieldThe Living Light harnesses plant energy to provide light. We spoke to its designer, Ermi van Oers, to find out more about the unique product.
Artificial Womb receives €2.9m funding to develop prototype
Freya HutchingsHooray! The team of researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (whom we previously collaborated with to design a prototype for an artificial womb ) has been awarded a …
The Institute of Digital Fashion explore what's next in the industry
Eloïse PeredrukTrading animal skins for pixels, our digital selves call for a digital wardrobe. The Institute of Digital Fashion , led by CommuneEast founder Leanne Elliott Young and Digi-Gxl …
Cooking with mycelium
NextNature.netResearchers from the University of Colorado created a recipe book to cook with mycelium.
Nano Supermarket – Call for Products
Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology of our time – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its …
Nature Preservation: The Literal Version
Minke Kampman* warning: high doses of irony detected in this article * Method #01: Canning Promotional gift 'Nature in a can' complete with soil and bean plant seeds (from DKNY , 2010). Method …
The Ecological Human
Rachel ArmstrongThe nature of humanity in the twenty-first century is, according to sociologist Steve Fuller, a ‘bipolar disorder’ beset with dualisms of identification such as divine/animal, …
Those Blueberries in Your Cereal, Muffins and Baking Mixes? All Fake.
Allison GuyWhat do blueberries have in common with sugar, corn cereal, modified food starch, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, artificial flavor, cellulose gum, salt and and Blue …
What Ant Colony Networks Can Tell Us About What’s Next for Digital Networks
Deborah GordonEver notice how ant colonies so successfully explore and exploit resources in the world … to find food at 4th of July picnics, for example? You may find it annoying. But as an …
The Evolution Of The Desk 1980 - 2014
Francesca BarchiesiObjects that normally used to surround us became more and more virtual, radically changing the aspect of our workplace.
Exploring Detroit’s Next Nature
NextNature.netFrom August 1 till 16 2015, Next Nature Network’s art director Hendrik-Jan Grievink will be co-tutor of the GDA Summer Sessions.
Ikea's Lab-Grown 3D Printed Meatballs
Margherita OlivoIkea’s research laboratory was inspired by our Magic Meatballs to re-design their famous meatballs.
Meat the Future Exhibition
NextNature.netFrom October 11 to June 11 we will discuss the future of meat at Cube Deign Museum in Kerkrade (The Netherlands) with the exhibition Meat the Future.
Cultured Meat Closer to Reality
Alejandro AlvarezMany companies are seeing the potential of this technology to solve food scarcity, reduce pollution and offer cruelty free meat. One of these firms is Tyson Foods, the meat giant.
Animal Free Cow Milk
Elle Zhan WeiA San Francisco-based start up discovered a way to "brew" milk that has zero hormones, antibiotics, steroid or lactose inside, and a longer shelf-life.
The Economy of Ecology
Lewis JustWhat if we could redesign the system to work for humanity and the planet we call home? What would the economy of ecology look like?
A full course cabbage meal to discuss the problem of agricultural over-abundance
Belen MunozLast night we were invited to celebrate the plenty at the third edition of the Neo-Futurist Dinner series at Mediamatic in Amsterdam. This time, the night was hosted by Dutch …
Anthropomorphism Puts a Friendly Face on Autonomous Vehicles
Jack CaulfieldDo you ever look at the bonnet of a car and see a face? Now, designers are looking at how to give self-driving cars the friendliest "faces" they can through anthropomorphism.
Three scenarios for the future of farming
Kelly van GemertAgriculture may be one of the oldest of our technologies. Over time it has developed, changed, revolutionized, industrialized - or simply put, it has evolved . Today’s farms are …
I like my steak lab-grown, not-grass fed
Angus HerveyRight now, somewhere in a laboratory in California, the Netherlands or Japan, a technician is taking a few thousand skeletal muscle cells from a living animal, and placing them in …
How in vitro meat became a subject of debate in the Dutch parliament
Ruben BaartTo all in vitro meat optimists, hear hear! In May 2018 we launched the petition ' In vitro meat is here. Let us taste it. ' We proudly announce that this petition led to …
This tiny tooth sensor tracks what you eat, and it could help you be healthier
Vanessa Bates RamirezThe South Beach diet. The Atkins diet. Eating paleo. Cutting out gluten. Going vegan. The list of fad diets and health crazes goes on, yet health statistics in the US and around …
Why human enhancement requires technological citizenship
Ira van Keulen and Rinie van EstNew technologies – from artificial intelligence to synthetic biology – are set to alter the world, the human condition, and our very being in ways that are hard to imagine. The …
Exploring body architecture with Lucy McRae
Meike SchipperAs evolution goes on, the human body is evolving too. What does it mean to be human in times of advanced biotechnology and genetic engineering? Are our bodies ready for our …
Next Nature XL showcase in China: in pictures
We are proud to invite you to our largest showcase (so far), currently on display at OCT Art & Design in Shenzhen, China. Spanning across three floors, with a total surface of …
Meatable: From stem cells to pork chops
Vanessa Bates RamirezThe food chain has always worked roughly like this: sunlight feeds plants. Plants feed insects. Insects and plants feed animals. Plants and animals feed people. Then …
Coffee... without the beans
Vanessa Bates RamirezAs with many of the products we consume, there’s a cost beyond what we pay at the store. Producing coffee has an environmental cost, too.
Fish-inspired soft robot takes a deep dive (literally)
Dimitris TsakirisThe deepest regions of the oceans still remain one of the least explored areas on Earth, despite their considerable scientific interest and the richness of lifeforms inhabiting …
Next Generation: Adorning Bio Embellishments with Aradhita Parasrampuria
NextNature.netThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Next Generation: producing glass from the ashes
Marit BeerseBenedikt Peirotén has started a project called ‘From the Ashes’ proposing using waste streams to replace the energy-intensive ingredients in glass.
10 Biomimic Gadgets
Arnoud van den HeuvelComing across an image like this, makes one wonder at first: is it a giant punch-bag? Some sort of soft water-drop-sculpture? No, it is the Emergency Outdoor Survival Cocoon , …
IVY - hard disk cover evolves with your data
Koert van MensvoortIVY is an external hard disk which shows the content of the hard disk on its skin. When no data is stored on IVY, its skin will remain blank. When you purchase IVY, it appears to …
Spatial planning - Learning from Second Life
Written by Joop de Boer from Studio Golfstromen - strategy, planning and design on the city. In the virtual world 'Second Life' everything is possible. That's most obvious in the …
Epidermits – The Tissue Engineered Toy
Koert van MensvoortThe world of tissue engineering is usually associated with medical applications . But how about some tissue engineered toys? The Epidermits toy is the Karten Design firm 's …
Join the Synthetic Aesthetics project
Koert van MensvoortSo, you are aware biotech will drive our evolution , you took the crash course on synthetic genomics , you've got your map of the DNA world in your backpack and are now eager to …
Keep it cool with the Bio-Robot Fridge
Koert van MensvoortThe Bio Robot fridge is a speculative product that uses a non sticky, odourless gel to envelope stored food as individual pods. The idea is that the gel cools by absorbing heat …
Creating the World's Cutest Fruit
Allison GuyJust like corn, bananas , and essentially any other plant we cultivate, the Cutie mandarin is the result of a concerted effort to produce an ideal food. Mandarin oranges come from …
Jet Powered Barbecue
Koert van MensvoortAt first sight it seems plain wrong to roast your burgers on this utterly technological machine: barbecuing is supposed to be a nostalgic low-tech activity that brings us back to …
Rule #4: Complex Products Tend to Be Anthropomorphized
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. Think about a spoon. Now think about a spoon with a face. What do you …
Pick Pig - Name Pig - Love Pig - Eat Pig
Stephen PerryIn a time of all-horse hamburgers and E. coli outbreaks, food provenance has become a huge issue. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the lack of traceability within the …
Maya YogHurt: Fermented Drink Made with Human Lactic Acid
Jiwon KimArtist Maja Smrekar modified yeast with her own DNA to produce human lactic acid.
NANO Supermarket 2014 Call for Products
NextNature.netSubmit your speculative product to the NANO Supermarket and win 2500 euro.
NNN Movement & the First ECO Coin
Alessia AndreottiWe officially launched the Next Nature Movement in The Netherlands. To seal the beginning of the Next Nature Movement, director Koert van Mensvoort donated the first symbolic ECO coin.
I Want Wings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nicholas CarrRead Nicholas Carr's essay on the transhumanist dream of having wings.
Tangible Money in Digital Currency Era
Alejandro AlvarezThe Scrip, a new universal cash device is bringing back the old metallic sparkle of the money and mixing it with today’s technology in order to fill the deficiencies of our credit and debit cards.
Ramen: the New Prison Currency
Ruben BaartInstant ramen noodles have become a valuable commodity to inmates, as cost-cutting measures in US prisons led to the deterioration of food quality.
Teaching Crows to Clean Up Cigarette Butts
Jack CaulfieldCigarette butts are littered everywhere. But now, two Dutch designers have come up with a unique solution to the problem: the Crowbar.
Fellow Day 2017: Next Habitat
Ruben BaartLast week, our NNN fellows gathered to discuss the Next Habitat; how will we work in the future? And how does this affect our personal lives?
Interview: Curator Ilari Laamanen on Momentum9, the Nordic Biennial
Ruben BaartWe recently spoke to Ilari Laamanen, to peel the outcrops of Momemtum9, and unveil the overlapping themes to the next nature philosophy.
Call for projects: bring your groundbreaking creativity to tackle pressing energy issues
NextNature.netWe need to change the way we power our daily lives. Burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of climate change, yet this is still our main source of energy. Much of this energy …
Edible packaging: Seaweed could replace plastic in disposable packaging
Jack CaulfieldWhat to do about the plastic planet ? The seas are steadily filling up with plastic , and it's vital to find ways to address the problem . One way to do this is to move away from …
Technology and Sports: Nutrigenomics
Megan Ray NicholsWe’ve been told since grade school that what we eat is important, but we’ve all been told to eat the same sort of healthy things. This isn’t bad, but with the up-and-coming …
Genetically engineered plants do it better
NextNature.netWelcome to the conversation! Every week, we’ll open up a new conversation among members of the network about next nature topics we've encountered around the globe. We hope …
Next Nature Future Lab plan granted €2m funding
NextNature.netHooray! This just in: Next Nature Network is granted a significant contribution from the Dutch government intended to develop a Future Lab for design & technology in Eindhoven …
In vitro meat hits the market
Nellie Friedrich, Eloïse PeredrukHumanity has an insatiable hunger for meat. Since 2013 we have been researching, developing and campaigning for a humane and eco-friendly way to get our protein fix. Since day one …
POND: A symphony of lights and water
Nellie FriedrichHave you ever gone a day without water? Most likely you have experienced low energy levels or fatigue after a few couple of hours. Water gives us energy. More than that, water is …
Next Generation: Exploring the vegetal cyborg with Marie Declerfayt
NextNature.netThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Want to see your work here? Get in touch and …
Future cities: We need to reimagine the look of urban landscapes
NextNature.netIn imagining future urban landsapes, we need to answer questions about what can be sustained and what cannot, where cities can be located and where they cannot.
Exploring speculative developments of reproductive technology
NextNature.netWhat if women of childbearing age no longer had to interrupt their careers for a pregnancy? In Kuang-Yi Ku ’s project Grandmom Mom, we take a look into the future. In 2050, the …
Printing houses with cow poop
Kelly van GemertNow here's a perspective: a pooping cow is like a living 3D printer
The Solar Biennale: new perspectives on the energy of the sun
NextNature.netThe sun lies at the heart of our solar system, providing life-giving light, heat and energy to Earth. The sun always gives, without asking for anything in return. In the …
Better than the real thing
Written by Debbie Mollenhagen PART 1: FROM LINEAR TO CIRCULAR Designer living has become designing life. I often ask myself: did it taste like the real thing? But when I open my …
Slogan
The things we design will end up designing us. Slogan of the week. Retrieved from the essay Exploring Next Nature .
Crash–Test Pizzas?
Arnoud van den HeuvelSchwan Consumer Brands, a leading frozen pizzas brand, has launched a challenging brand: UGLY. The design embraces the rising trend for natural, honest food and the notion that …
Fake-Space Race
Koert van MensvoortSome weeks ago we pondered over the oddity of a space race in cyberspace . Rockets and jet-packs –so cool in the previous century– don't make sense in a virtual environment. The …
Italians Do It Better
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkTERRACINA, Italy: Before Michele Assunto hauls in his fishing net from the banks of a reed-lined canal here, he uses a pole to push the garbage out of the way. "They really need …
BVPS Next Nature in LA - Pictures!
May 17th 2008. Biggest Visual Power Show: Next Nature in LA . More pictures below. We are all born in a world that has been designed already. BVPS intro video by Floris Kaayk. Big …
DrinkPeeDrinkPeeDrinkPee
Arnoud van den HeuvelDrinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee is a project by Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray about the role our bodies play in larger ecosystems. It's an installation about the Urine to Fertilzer DIY …
Ecology – A New Opium for the Masses
Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek discusses the 'naturalization' of capitalism and how ecology became a new field of capitalist investment. He also argues that the ultimate …
Scientists 'grow' pork
SelbyScientists at the Eindhoven University of Technology are creating artificial pork. Prof. Dr Mark Post and his colleagues of the department of Biomedical Engineering have extracted …
Are Mushrooms the New Plastic?
Koert van MensvoortMushroom based plastics? Designer Eben Bayer must have eaten too much of the wondrous chanterelles perhaps? No seriously, the man is turning his vision into a reality with an …
Brand Environmentalism: The Augmented Reality Sneaker
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkOnce, we wore footwear to protect our feet from the hostile influences of our natural environment. But with the replacement of our natural environment by a world of design, the …
Friendly Vending Machine
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Guus Baggermans was quite annoyed by the clumsy impoliteness of current vending machines, that typically require you to enter some abstract number to select your drink or …
Infotizement Call For Entries
In anticipation of the forthcoming Next Nature book, we call upon you, dearest creatives, to submit a fictitious editorial advertisement: The Infotizement. The infotizement is a …
Urban Dolls
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe idea of altering your body for aesthetic purposes is still somewhat frowned upon today. But more than because the very idea of improving yourself, this is about its …
Birdfeeders spit Blackcaps in two species
Koert van MensvoortUntil now, most people have likely regarded bird-feeders as merely a pleasant addition to their gardens. But scientists have now discovered that bird-feeders in the UK are …
The Banana Gets a Second Skin
Allison GuyWe already know that bananas are evidence of intelligent design – by farmers, not by god. All commercial crops have been tweaked by the hand of agriculture, but modern bananas …
#11: Don’t Use Anthropomorphism if it Does Not Serve Any Purpose
NextNature.netPart 11 of the series 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design Anthropomorphism can be a powerful tool in product design. But there are also risks involved that urge …
End of Life Care Machine
Marco van BeersDesigner, artist and engineer Dan Chen has developed the ' End of Life Care Machine ', a machine designed to guide and comfort dying patients with a carefully scripted message. …
Herons Eat at the Local Snack Bar
Floor FrintsOriginally herons are migratory birds, in the winter they leave to warmer habitats. In the city there is enough food to survive the winter. Some herons are even too lazy to find their own food and try to collect it from the local snack bar.
Manufacturing Imperfection in Processed Luncheon Meats
Allison GuyFood companies are hard at work inventing processes to make luncheon meat look "deli fresh".
A Registered Landscape
Lotte BiesheuvelTuscany is known for its natural beauty. But only a few know that this wonderful landscape is actually a really good design work.
NANO Supermarket New Line of Products
NextNature.netDuring the 2014 Dutch Design Week, the NANO Supermarket debuts a new line of speculative nano products.
Share the Smell of Your Delicious Dish
Julia WeberThe oPhone and oSnap allow you to send pictures with aromatic vocabularies.
Veggie Burger That Bleeds Like Real Meat
Alessia AndreottiProf. Patrick Brown developed a meatless burger that look and taste like meat, made out of plant ingredients.
Feeding the World with Insects
Abby QinShould we make a next step in what we serve at the table? What about insects? Would you give them a try?
Let’s Sweat the Heat Out: Sweating Wall Concept
Wei Lun WangHydroceramic: a composite material able to lower the temperature of an interior space by five degrees Celsius.
Which Technologies will 2016 Bring?
Wei Lun WangThe new year is right around the corner, let’s forget about long-term future for a while to check out what new tech trends will hit it big in 2016. At the end of every year, …
Making Power Stations Part of the Landscape
Margherita OlivoCan we have pretty power stations? The design of power stations is becoming more appealing.
Harvesting Water from Thin Air
Margherita OlivoScientists in Harvard University have designed a new material inspired by organisms, such as cacti, that can effectively harvest water from thin air.
A Robotic Suit to Update Your Granny
Mathilde NakkenThe elderly may toss their walkers for this robotic suit.
Vacation in the Era of Marine Pollution
Megan Ray NicholsWhile we can’t just leave the coast permanently without upsetting the delicate balance of this new environment we created, we can take better care of it to ensure that it is around for years to come.
Dinner with Chef Watson
Ruben BaartChef Watson knows over 10.000 recipes. The highbrow robotic cook invited us over for dinner during the first Neo-Futurist Dinner at Mediamatic.
Greenhouse for Space Colonies
Elle Zhan WeiResearchers from Arizona and NASA unveiled a plan to sustainably provide food in space, growing it in an inflatable greenhouse.
FarmVille Turns into Real-Life Agriculture
Julie ReindlA Japanese Start up brings Farmville back into real life by letting players grow physical food.
Artificial Womb Workshop at Border Sessions
Elle Zhan WeiAt Border Sessions Festival in the Hague a workshop was hosted by Next Nature Network on the artificial womb.
Getting rid of that bit of unspoiled green
Sanne vander BeekThere it is. A hefty hen, with its head up high and its beak out. And a gigantic VR headset over its beady little eyes. What does this battery hen see? ‘An experience of a free …
'I volunteer myself to try this cultured meat at my own risk'
Koert van MensvoortThe Netherlands leads in cheese, clogs, and cultured meat. This sustainable and animal-friendly form of meat has largely been developed in our country. In 1997, Willem van Eelen …
In vitro meat is here! But we are not allowed to taste it
NextNature.netPreviously we predicted that we would be eating in vitro meat by 2028. But as it turns out... In vitro meat is already here! And we are not allowed to eat it. The meat has been …
The return of trade: Blockchain technology is enabling trade to make a fierce comeback
Koen BlezerBefore money came into existence, trading was all we knew. Farmers in China traded their spades for food and other goods, and this continued up until a point where most spades …
Green roofs improve the urban environment – so why don't all buildings have them?
Michael Hardman and Nick DaviesRooftops covered with grass, vegetable gardens and lush foliage are now a common sight in many cities around the world. More and more private companies and city authorities are …
How to biofabricate leather; lessons from the lab
Laura MuthLeather is one of the oldest and most versatile materials in the world. It’s a supple, tough, relatively strong and durable material and it’s relatively impermeable, yet …
Human-animal hybrids are coming and could be used to grow organs for transplant
Mackenzie GrahamAround the world thousands of people are on organ donor waiting lists. While some of those people will receive the organ transplants they need in time, the sad reality is that …
Three ways farms of the future can feed the planet and heal it too
Karen Rial-LoveraIntensive agriculture may be nourishing most of the Earth’s inhabitants, but it’s doing the opposite to earth itself. Its dependence on singular crops, heavy ploughing machinery, …
Next Generation: Grow old technologically with Prosthetic X
Eloïse PeredrukThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
How a 6.000-year-old fruit fly gave us cheese
John MorrisseyHistorians often trace the dawn of human civilisation back 10,000 years, when Neolithic tribes first settled and began farming in the Fertile Crescent, which stretches through …
How future fashion could help us cope with isolation
Ruben BaartToday we cannot meet, touch or hug our loved ones. And while we all like the feeling of the touch of another human being, physical contact does not just feel nice, it is crucial …
Is in vitro meat good news for animals?
NextNature.netThe Singapore Food Agency has approved “chicken bites” containing meat made from real chicken cells that were grown outside of a chicken’s body. Alongside similar news from Israel …
Next Generation: Louise Silfversparre illustrates the remains of the Anthropocene
Eloïse PeredrukThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
Why superhuman technologies will affect us all
peter joostenWhen you look through a super-telescope, you can still see the planet Earth. Once called the blue planet, she now looks red and parched. We had no choice but to abandon her… On a …
Virtual makeup: maybe they're born with it, maybe it’s XR
Eloïse PeredrukAs our reality exists increasingly within digital realms, our virtual world demands a virtual identity. Our work is hybrid, our social identity is online and our connection is …
On the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality
Ruben BaartLet’s talk about the most controversial of "m words"—monogamy. And let’s have this conversation with in mind its prehistoric origins. Our modern picture of prehistoric societies …
Can AI become addicted?
Thomas Moynihan, Anders SandbergIn 1953, a Harvard psychologist thought he discovered pleasure – accidentally – within the cranium of a rat. With an electrode inserted into a specific area of its brain, the rat …
Next Nature Evoluon- plans honored with Region Deal
Hans van RijsbergenGood day astronauts of spaceship Earth! Today it was announced that Next Nature's plans for the Evoluon have been awarded a financial contribution of €7.6 million from the Region …
The Internet of Mycelium
Kelly van GemertA lot of the ground we live on is polluted. More than a third of our soils are moderately or heavily degraded; heavy metals such as lead are increasingly found in urban soils, …
What Julia Watson is reading this summer
NextNature.netIn an era of high-tech and climate extremes, we are drowning in information while starving for wisdom. Architect Julia Watson imagines a design movement building on indigenous …
5 things not to miss at Floriade
Veronica FanzioHere are 5 things you cannot miss at Floriade Expo 2022
Next Generation: Mending with mycelium by Emma Huffman
NextNature.netThis story is part of Next Generation , a series in which we give young makers a platform to showcase their work. Your work here? Get in touch and plot your …
The secret life of fungi
Edith HammerWhen you think of fungi, you’ll probably picture a huddle of chubby brown mushrooms, or the large, red-capped toadstools you stumble across in the woods. In doing so, you’re …
Sketch furniture
Rolf CoppensIs it possible to let a first sketch become an object, to design directly onto space? This is a question that Front Design have just asked in their project Sketch Furniture. "The …
Out of Control
The Made and the Born: Neo-Biological civillization, written by Kevin Kelly, excerpt from Out of Control : The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World, …
Bacteria That Eat Waste & Shit Petrol
Koert van MensvoortEnergy problem? Why not genetically alter bacteria to have them provide 'renewable petroleum'. Crude oil is only a few molecular stages removed from the acids normally excreted by …
Software that Ranks Female Beauty
Koert van MensvoortEarlier we reported software that predicts how a wine will rate in reviews even before it is made . Now, for puber-geek delight, lets try that for women. Tel Aviv University …
A plate that regulates the speed of eating
Koert van MensvoortMany people tend to eat too fast. As a result they do not receive signals from the stomach that they are in fact full. The result can be overeating and obesity . To encounter …
Corporate animal wallpaper (in real life)
Koert van MensvoortStudents of the Next Nature Theme at TU/e Industrial design in Eindhoven decided to jungle-up their working environment a bit with the corporate animal wallpaper. Hand painted (!) …
Feeding the world: oh not organic
Koert van MensvoortDaring talk by agriculture expert Louise Fresco , who has the guts to break the organic trance of the fashionably-natural-farmers-market people at TED . During her talk she is …
Hyper Fruit
Koert van MensvoortImaginary advertizement for genetically engineered hybrid hyperfruits featuring an 'limwi', 'kiwange' and a 'strawblackberry'. Imagine a taste of things to come. Makes you want to …
Not so Happy Meals
Arnoud van den HeuvelThis week a Brazilian prosecutor asked a judge to nationally ban toys sold with meals in fast-food outlets like McDonald's and Burger King, because it can lead children to develop …
The Playboy Interview
In 1961, the name of Marshall McLuhan was unknown to everyone but his English students at the University of Toronto – and a coterie of academic admirers who followed his abstruse …
Virtual Money Is a Pleonasm
Koert van MensvoortHave you heard the buzz on virtual money in online games? Some years ago the first virtual millionaire was announced, yet there have also been reports on people being practically …
Ars Electronica 2010: Artists Adressing NextNature
Ties van de WerffSind wir noch zu retten? That was the slogan of this year’s Ars Electronica festival in Linz (Austria). Titled ‘REPAIR’, the media art festival urged to leave our scepticism and …
Stereotype Packaging
Rolf CoppensAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), unhealthy diet is amongst one of the leading causes of the major non-communicable diseases. Can design encourage people to …
An Ecstatic Dialogue with Richard Doyle
Jason SilvaWhen techno–optimist and fellow at the Hybrid Reality Institute , Jason Silva, meets with Richard Doyle, author of Darwin's Pharmacy: Sex, Plants and the Evolution of the …
Get Vegetarian Teeth and Eat Less Meat
Koert van MensvoortWant to live a greener life? Eat less meat. Recently the UN appealed for a radical shift in diet , to improve individual health and ease conditions affecting the global …
Facing your Car
MattijsDo cars have a face? You would be inclined to say yes immediately. And you would be right as well, because they do. Study has confirmed through a complex statistical analysis that …
Kinetic architecture
Erik SwaagstraArchitecture has now come to a stage where the technical possibilities seem limitless. Buildings become more fluent, dynamic and organic. Examples can be found in most buildings …
Morphing Cutlery
Koert van MensvoortImagine a world where the shapes of all objects around you would be able to change on the fly. Envision a future where nanotechnology and morphing become ubiquitous and blend in …
Rule #1: Any Association that Can be Made, Will be Made
NextNature.netFor other entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. People have evolutionarily built-in mechanisms that help us to …
Rule #3: Keep it ASS: Abstract, Simple and Subtle
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. Making good use of anthropomorphism isn’t easy. As you’ve probably …
Algae in the Supermarket
JenniferAs mentioned earlier , the world seems obsessed with algae. Not limited to producing light or energy , algae has also found its way to our plate as a new vegetable, and maybe …
Better Than Nature?
Rachel ArmstrongAt the turn of the millennium, miniaturized canines acquired the cherished status of living, designer handbag ornaments. These teeny tiny photogenic doggies, which had been …
Corn 2.0: Survival of the Cheapest
NextNature.netCongrats to Sean Serafini, the winner of our April Next Nature Spotter contest. While we received many images of fake nature , Sean's entry delves deeper into more diverse next …
Medicinal Blueberries
Koert van MensvoortAs our scientific knowledge of nutritious food increases, will healthy foods be progressively designed to look like medicines? This blueberry blister packaging created by Chinese …
Rule #7: Respect Social Standards
NextNature.netAnthropomorphic products enter the human social space. Humans have the most complex social behavior of any organism on Earth. Anyone or anything trying to join in should be careful to do it right.
Demo Day at Next Nature Lab
Alessia AndreottiUnpolished creativity at the Next Nature lab from the Industrial Design Department at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Did Forks Really Give Modern Humans an Overbite?
Allison GuyThe food writer Bee Wilson, author of Consider the Fork , has put forth a surprising theory about forks and teeth that has received widespread online coverage. According to …
Implantable Microchip Controls Appetite
Adriaan de RegtBy attaching to the vagus nerve, a chip can contribute to "natural" weight-loss.
In-Vitro Meat Visions in The Guardian
Koert van MensvoortLast weekends edition of the Guardian featured some of the In-Vitro Meat Visions developed at Next Nature Lab.
Let's Build a Garden on Mars
Koert van MensvoortOne would need a gardening robot, fitted plant species and some kind of dome structure for the plants to grow in.
3D Print Your Thoughts
Alessia AndreottiHow incredible would it be to imagine a thing and have it magically appear in concrete form? After food , organs and virtuality , here comes the thought printer! Thinkerthing , …
Making Fake Eggs to Beat the Real Thing
Allison GuyTech experts are betting that they can make vegetarian eggs that outperform the real thing.
Meat & Greet Workshop Report
Insoo HwangLast week, Next Nature Lab had the first Meat & Greet to explore the future of in vitro meet.
Space Farming for Astronauts
Alessia AndreottiSpace Farming: NASA plans to grow a vegetable garden 230 miles above the Earth.
Totem Animals for the Anthropocene
Ted HeistmanInvasive species become the animal symbols for a man-made world.
'Victimless Shelter' Grown from Pig Cells
Allison GuyWhile Next Nature was busy dreaming up new in vitro meat (IVM) foods, the mad scientists of Terreform ONE in New York went ahead and designed an entire dwelling made of IVM pig cells.
Why Isn't Cream Cream-Colored?
Allison GuyOur language preserves evidence of a type of food that's all but extinct.
No Future for Traditional Meat
Alessia AndreottiAt Home in the Lab with Mark Post, Father of the In Vitro Hamburger. Interview from The In Vitro Meat Cookbook
3D Printed Eyes with WiFi Connection
Alessia AndreottiItalian research studio is working on EYE: a 3D bioprinted sight augmentation.
GM Salmon Approved for Consumption
Margherita OlivoTime ago we wrote about the fact that US Food and Drug Administration was considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered salmon. We have a verdict: from now on …
From Discarded Mega Oil-Tanker to Village
Alessia AndreottiDutch architect Chris Collaris and designers Ruben Esser, Sander Bakker and Patrick van der Gronde, saw a new sustainable potential in discarded mega oil tankers in the Southern …
Interview: Nadine Bongaerts, Synthetic Biologist Bridging Science with Society
NextNature.netWe recently talk to Nadine Bongaerts about the role and impact of synthetic biology, the gap between biosciences and society and the importance of communication to overcome the fear of new technologies.
Modern Times Emergency Kit
Alexandra BremersIn these modern times a traditional first aid kit won't do anymore. As the world around us innovates, our needs in case of an emergency change as well.
Eating Plastic or Krill: a Smelly Story for Birds
Mathilde NakkenSeabirds eat floating plastic debris because it smells like food, study finds.
Getting Wasted on Plastics
Lewis JustA new community currency that rewards recyclers with local discounts and deals.
Meat-Eating Made Us Humans
Margherita OlivoEating meat has made us who we are today: evolved, intelligent humans, able to use a verbal language.
Rating the Reputation Economy
Lewis JustOur online reputation is becoming a valuable currency that is hard to earn and easy to lose.
The making of the Modular Body
Jack CaulfieldRemember the Modular Body? Curious about how OSCAR was really created or keen to know more about the project as a whole? Check out the making of videos!
Opening HUBOT at DDW
NextNature.netThe robots have arrived! Yesterday we celebrated the launch of HUBOT , job agency for people and robots at MediaMarkt , as part of the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. Our virtual …
Otra Nation: Make Walls Great Again
Elle Zhan WeiThis group of 14 designers, engineers, builders and architects make a proposal of a wall for Trump's ambitious project.
Robotization Makes Work More Human
Koert van MensvoortImagine being 16 and studying for a job that soon won't exist. What kind of future is that? New occupations will come thanks to robotization.
How AI and genomics will impact the future of making babies
Vanessa Bates RamirezAs if stand-alone technologies weren’t advancing fast enough, we’re in age where we must study the intersection points of these technologies. How is what’s happening in robotics …
How will the artificial womb affect society?
Natalja HeybroekWhere contraceptives such as the pill disconnect sex from reproduction, in vitro fertilisation disconnects contraception from sex, and the artificial womb would disconnect the …
Your next doctor might just be a robot
Jack CaulfieldConventional wisdom says that you can’t replace the human touch in terms of medical care, but in our rapidly changing technological environment, it appears that this perception …
On inhumane technology
Jack CaulfieldStick-on shoes, wakeup lights, bionic limbs: these are examples of humane technology. But what exactly does this mean? It can best be explained in contrast with its opposite. …
The return of Rayfish Footwear?
NextNature.netRayfish Footwear was a fictional company that offered personalized sneakers crafted from genetically modified stingray leather. This online science fiction story allowed customers …
Face the future of intimacy with Kiiroo
Ruben BaartMeet the teledildonics, an ingenious species of bi-directionally controlled sextoys from the future, available today. These touch emulating vibrators find each other on social sex …
Artificial womb: Are we ready?
NextNature.net“Within a few years it will be possible for a premature baby to continue to mature in an artificial womb,” says gynecologist Guid Oei. It is therefore that the Artificial Womb: …
This exhibition investigates how humanity will live tomorrow
NextNature.netOccupying the 52nd floor of Tokyo’s Mori Tower, Mori Art Museum is internationally renowned for its visionary approach and highly original curation of contemporary art. The …
Q: How will we co-evolve with technology?
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThis question is an excerpt from the Pyramid of Technology toolkit Cooking is a process through which humans outsource part of their bodily functions to technology (think …
Three exhibitions that explore the relationship between humans and the environment
Freya HutchingsAs we go about our daily activities, we may lose sight of our connections with nonhuman life. Here are three exhibitions to encourage you to step outside of your everyday and …
Watch: BBC reports on world's first artificial womb for humans
NextNature.netNow that the team of researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (whom we previously collaborated with to design a prototype for an artificial womb ) has been awarded a …
‘We All Parent Earth’
Joyce NabuursLast week I was strolling through the aisles of the supermarket when I heard a buzzing sound coming from my pocket. I looked up from my cart and saw it was a message from …
5 expos (NL) you cannot miss this summer
NextNature.netInterior based on bacteria, spaces morphing perception and the merging of man, animal and machine. These five must see exhibitions in the Netherlands explore the intersection of …
How can Big History help us think about the future?
Noriko Wynn'Big History' is a multidisciplinary study that seeks to put the human story into the context of a 13.8 billion-year story from the Big Bang to now.
Why urban gardens are crucial for conserving bees and butterflies
NextNature.netAs humans have industrialised farming to feed a growing global population, pollinators – animals vital for plant reproduction – have seen their food supply decline. In the UK, …
Growth is not the problem, but the solution
NextNature.netIf we want to bring down global CO2 emissions to zero, we will need technological innovation and massive infrastructure projects.
The Museum of Edible Earth
Ruben BaartWe spoke with the Museum of Edible Earth, a travelling museum dedicated to the prosperous amount of soil samples.
Next Senses
Eloïse PeredrukNext Senses explores the unchartered territory of how we could experience the world with technology
Erkundungen im Nächste Natur (D)
Die Natur verändert sich mit uns (English version: Exploring Next Nature ) by Koert van Mensvoort , published in Entry Paradise, Neue Welten des Designs, Gerhard Seltman, Werner …
Next Nature: Radikale Mediokrität
Lecture spoken by Henk Oosterling at Biggest Visual Powershow , Zollverein Essen, Germany, 23 June 2006 Damen und Herrn, Next Nature, Nächste Natur ist ein Pleonasmus, ein …
Real Nature is not Green
Koert van MensvoortAt the edge of the woods along the motorway near the Dutch town of Bloemendaal, there stands a mobile telephone mast disguised as a pine tree. This mast is not nature: at best, it …
The Sleeping Garden
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkHow to design an expierience of retrieving in nature in the middle of Holland's second-biggest city? Design a park, built entirely from used railway sleepers. That was the basic …
Biotypography
Rolf CoppensIsraelian typographer Oded Ezer looks at the world from his point of view, through letters and numbers. So why not turn the world into typography. A short interview taken from …
Breaking Point?
John Zerzan, published in Green Anarchy issue #24 - Spring/Summer 2007 The rapidly mounting toll of modern life is worse than we could have imagined. A metamorphosis rushes …
Call for Proposals: One Day left!
One week left to send in your Designing for Next Nature proposals in round #1 . A selection of the proposals of round#1 is invited for a 5 minute presentation on 23 November 2007 …
Amsterdam Weekly on the Natural Revolution
The free cultural paper Amsterdam Weekly discusses the Natural Revolution of and includes tree tips for successful living in the next version of nature. Download PDF (148kb) . …
Bananawall
Koert van MensvoortWho would not need a bananawall in their officegarden? This modular freestanding, indoor/outdoor bananawall system was designed by Stefan Sagmeister . It is made of 7200 banana's. …
Build a better being
Koert van MensvoortWill Wright's hugely successful games SimCity and The Sims let players shape the structure of urban areas and the lives of virtual humans; his upcoming game, Spore , lets them …
Catch and eat fishing by phone
Dr NaturalFor mobile gamers in western Japan, a hearty seafood dinner awaits just a few key clicks away, thanks to a unique new cellphone fishing game that rewards successful players with …
Playing with Dry Water
Arnoud van den HeuvelThe Waterboard is an interactive installation by Mike Burton giving the user a chance to play with water without getting wet. By drawing lines on the whiteboard, the water will …
Humans Are the Sex Organs of Technology
Written by Kevin Kelly , published in The Technium . I claim that technology has its own agenda. What is the evidence that technology as a whole, or the technium as I call it, is …
Popple
Koert van MensvoortWith her babybunnies series provocateur/artist/designer Tinkebell aims to provide an analysis of the consumptive attitude people have in relation to their pets. This latest work – …
Treetrunk Trashcan
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkThe Nanputo Temple in Xiamen (Southeast China) is an oasis of quietness, religious practice and leisure for Chinese amidst the hustle and bustle of one of the fastest growing …
Back to Where it Came From
Koert van MensvoortFish sticks are among the most wondrous modernistic inventions of the previous century. They are easy to eat, efficient in their packaging & transport and the greatest of all: …
Deliver us from Skeuomorph Prosthetics
Koert van MensvoortNo, this is not another example in our fake for real series , comparing an artificial with a human hand. Rather, you are looking at twice the same hand: with and without its …
Phone Booths turned into Smoking Booths
Koert van MensvoortWith the emergence of mobile phones, classical phone booths are used less and less. Seems like the Dutch telecoms operator KPN is re-tooling its phone booths to function as …
You Are What You Eat, part II
Arnoud van den HeuvelMark Menjivar created a series of portraits of people across the United States, by taking pictures of their refrigerators content. Quote: "For three years I traveled around the …
Genetically Modified Salmon moves to Kitchen Table
Koert van MensvoortThe US Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to approve the first genetically engineered animal that people would eat — salmon that can grow at twice the normal …
Having Invented the Gods, Perhaps we can Turn into Them
Jason SilvaMy name is Jason Silva. I've spent the last 5 years hosting and producing a tv show on Al Gore's Emmy-winning Current TV network and I'm a fellow at the Hybrid Realities …
Rare mutation: Razorius Gilletus Vectrus
Koert van MensvoortIf you haven't read the recently posted essay " Razorius Gilletus – On the Origin of a Next Species ?", you probably won't understand much of the following. Anyhow, I'd want to …
Recycled Island
Koert van MensvoortRecycled island is a research project on the potential of realizing a habitable floating island in the Pacific Ocean made from all the plastic waste that is momentarily floating …
The Anthropocene Debate: Marking Humanity’s Impact
Elizabeth KolbertIs human activity altering the planet on a scale comparable to major geological events of the past? Scientists are now considering whether to officially designate a new …
A New Take on the Tree
IzzyWoodsMany people will have heard of the infamous swastika made up of larches that revealed itself every autumn in a forest outside Berlin . The trees, which turned yellow at the end …
Afterlife for Atheists
Lisa van der VoortWhere religions promise their believers a life after death and cryonics also needs a kind of belief in future technological development, designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau …
Animal-Free Meat Could Put a Hold on Global Warming
Koert van MensvoortGrowing meat in the lab, rather than slaughtering animals, could become a viable alternative for people who want to cut the environmental impact of their food consumption, but …
Rule #2: Different People Anthropomorphize Differently
NextNature.netFor past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. What people experience as anthropomorphic is highly personal. Tests have …
Tomberry – The Worlds Smallest Tomato
Koert van MensvoortSome people like berries, some like tomato's. So what do you get when you get when the two mate? Indeed, the latest hyperfruit spotted on the selves is the Tomberry . This …
#10: Enhance Human Experience, Don’t Replace it
NextNature.netPart 10 in the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design . The hidden danger with interactive products is that they will become so good at fulfilling our needs that they start to …
#9: Be Aware of the Ecosystem You're Invading
NextNature.netPart 9 in the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design . With most products, one wouldn’t normally worry about the environment that it enters. However, anthropomorphic products …
A Winery in your Microwave
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkA delicious Montepulciano in only 6 seconds? This is now possible with the universal Nano wine. All you need is a microwave oven. In 5,64 seconds at 1000 watt you have a sublime …
Bio-engineered Football
Marco van BeersWith the knowledge that footballs were once made of pig's bladder and that in 2006 the first artificial bladder was transplanted into a patient, artist John O’Shea designed the …
Bonobos (And Maybe Baboons) Domesticated Themselves
Allison GuyWhile evidence indicates that humans domesticated themselves , we're not the only primates capable of self-domestication. Bonobos and baboons have shown they are just as capable …
Darwinian Selection of the Cowboy Hat
Allison GuyThe standard story of the cowboy hat goes something like this: In 1865, J.B. Stetson went out west during the California gold rush. He observed that bowlers, raccoon hats, and …
Eating in Vitro: Magic Meatballs
Koert van MensvoortMagic Meatballs are designed to playfully familiarize children with lab-grown meat.
Hendrik-Jan Grievink - From Blog to Book
Koert van MensvoortAt the next nature powershow designer Hendrik-Jan Grievink explained how over 1600 blog post on nextnature.net were re-designed & re-edited into a must-read coffee table book.
Genetically Engineered "Arctic" Apple Will Never Turn Brown
Allison GuyCanada-based Okanagan Specialty Fruits is pitching a genetically engineered apple that does not turn brown when bruised or exposed to air. This new technology, available in both …
Growing Fruit into Its Own "Juice Box"
Allison GuyBrazilian ad agency AGE Isobar spent two years experimenting in order to grow fruits into the shape of Camp's juice boxes. Immature limes, guavas and passionfruit were packed …
Is the Human Body Redundant?
Rachel ArmstrongThe increasing ‘liveliness’ of machines and accessibility to the virtual world has raised questions about whether it is possible to uncouple the mind from the body in through a …
NANO Supermarket - Introducing the Jury
NextNature.netLittle over two weeks left to submit your speculative product idea for the Nano Supermarket . The jury that will select the finest submissions – to be exhibited in the Nano …
The Rise and Fall or Rayfish Footwear
Koert van MensvoortFor almost three years, we worked on a sneaker company that we knew would go bankrupt on the day it was founded. This is our coming out...
Tuur van Balen – Hacking Yoghurt
Koert van MensvoortDesigner Tuur van Balen argues biotechnoloyg is actually very accessible and creates an 'anti-depressant yoghurt' on stage.
"Algae Opera" Nourishes Algae with a Singer's Breath
Silvia CelibertiAre you blessed with a Maria Callas kind of voice? If, like us, you don't go beyond croaking the occasional " I want to break free" in the shower, watch out. If the artists of …
Bacterioptica
Marco van BeersLiving lamps like Latro Algea Lamp by Mike Thompson are nothing new. But design studio MADLAB has created Bacterioptica , a lamp that contains organisms and bacteria from the …
Did Booze Make Us Modern?
Allison GuyA psychiatrist argues that beer gave us civilization - but do intoxicants play a deeper evolutionary role than that?
Eating In Vitro: Meat Paint
Koert van MensvoortPaint with meat! is a product for children of 5-10 years old. It allows them to prepare a meat dish on their own and in a very creative, fun and safe way: by painting with meat!
"Ento" Brand Normalizes Eating Insects
Allison GuyWhile Next Nature is hard at work normalizing the idea of eating lab-grown meat , a group of British design students are working to bring insect-eating into the mainstream. Though …
Fake-for-Real Fur from Imaginary Animals
Alice FumeyWWF teams up with designers to produce fur from imaginary animals
I’ll Take A Variety of Fried Gadgets, Please
Alessia AndreottiIs a deep-fried iPad as unhealthy as a McDonald's meal?
Interview: Jason Silva, Media Artist and Curator of Awe-Inspiring Ideas
Alessia AndreottiMedia artist, filmmaker and wonderjunkie Jason Silva talks about technological evolution and why humans are gods with anuses.
Jellyfish Ice Cream Glows When Licked
Alessia Andreotti$220 ice cream glows thanks to synthetic bioluminescent proteins derived from jellyfish.
Paint by Numbers, then Eat It
Stephen PerryAn innovative workshop points out future directions for in-vitro meat products.
Protocell Shoe Mends Itself
Rachel ArmstrongThe self-repairing sole is a dynamic solution to an everyday problem.
"Responsive Typography" Tracks Your Location to Automatically Resize Text
Hendrik-Jan GrievinkA new website changes the text's font size depending on your distance from the computer.
Sniffer - Meet the Google Nose
Koert van MensvoortThe Sniffer – aka Google Nose – visualizes odors using a smell sensor, which is as good as a dog’s nose, and a glass in front of your eyes.
Swap Your Bones for an Improved, 3D-Printed Version
Alice Fumey3D printed organs are on the way. Could they be designed to be aesthetically appealing?
The (Almost) Invisible Dancing Wheelchair
Jonathon MarkowskiDesigned by a dancer, a new wheelchair moves intuitively with the user's movements.
World's First In Vitro Hamburger Arrives
Allison GuyBreak out the ketchup: Mark Post has grown the world's first entirely artificial burger from cultured beef cells.
A Jewel That Stops You From Checking Your Phone
Rolf CoppensFor every smartphone user to recognize, is that merely the lighting of your screen, a vibration or ring distracts you from almost every activity. Even when you are spending time …
Breathing Lights
Alessia AndreottiInspired by the movement of spider webs in the wind, Dutch designer Jeroen Van Der Meij created Breathing Lights.
Browsing the Map of Space Ship Earth
Koert van MensvoortBesides finding their way, people look at to transport them to another place, or in this case, another perspective on planet Earth.
In Vitro Meat Cookbook to be Launched
NextNature.netOn the 5th of August, one year after the lab grown hamburger, the In Vitro Meat Cookbook will be presented in Amsterdam.
OUT NOW: The In Vitro Meat Cookbook
NextNature.netOn the 5th of August, one year after the lab grown hamburger, the In Vitro Meat Cookbook was launched.
Rainbow Station
Alessia AndreottiStudio Roosegaarde created a giant rainbow of light for the Amsterdam Central Station east side.
Wearing Technology Under the Skin
Alessia AndreottiUnderSkin is a device that would be implanted beneath the skin on your hand and charge off your body’s energy.
Weaving a Home
Alessia AndreottiA lightweight and mobile structural fabric based on ancient traditions of weaving fibers.
A Wind Turbine That Looks Like a Tree
Yunus Emre DuyarThe wind turbines of the future will look like post-modern tree sculptures.
Bioprinting in the Kitchen of the Future
Alessia AndreottiCultivator is speculative design project on how bioprinting could find its way into the kitchen of the future.
Experimental Office: No Chairs, No Desks
Koert van MensvoortTo counter the sitting dogma, design firm RAAAF and artist Barbara Visser created a dynamic office concept, entirely based on movement and leaning.
From the Super Muscular Pig to the Hypoallergenic Cow: New GMOs May Soon Be on Your Plate
Alessia AndreottiThe acronym that keeps Europe awake at night is TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), a trade and investment deal that the EU is negotiating with the US. From …
Hair Matter(s)
Alessia AndreottiFrench student at the Design Academy Eindhoven collected hair from African American hairdressers to create jackets and hats.
Holiday in a Bird's Nest
Alessia AndreottiThe exterior of the this hotel room is constructed with branches, sticks and twigs intertwined to create the look and feel of a real bird nest.
Jewelry Harvests Energy from Veins
Yunus Emre DuyarNaomi Kizhner designed jewelry that can theoretically harvest energy from the body of the person wearing it.
Marketing the Oceans
Adriene LillyEco-friendly fashion is in vogue, evidenced by terms like “recycled-material” and “sustainable manufacturing” battered around as selling points for everything from sheets to …
Minimalist Effect in the Maximalist Market
Abby QinThe multidisciplinary design consultancy Antrepo Team created a project named Minimalist Effect in the Maximalist Market in 2010.